


Much More Precious Than Pearls

by NSkellington



Series: One shots of AUs I love [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And tiny, M/M, Or IS he?!, Shiro's parents are adorable, They are basically visiting Shiro’s parents, mermaid lance, there is a bonding moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 16:04:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19254520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NSkellington/pseuds/NSkellington
Summary: It has been since forever Shiro visited his parents, and now he is taking two of the most precious people in his life (Adam and Keith) with him.Maybe the small village of Pāru made a bigger impression on Keith than he had antecipated. Specialy since Shiro's dad tells the boy about the mermaids that sing on the other side of the island.





	Much More Precious Than Pearls

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Re-watching Voltron when things were simple and happy and everybody was okay and happy and alive and happy?! Where did you get that idea?   
> That's not me at all!

_Japanese_

English

 ---------

 

Keith had only met Shiro’s parents once, a long time ago when was still in middle school. And they were the ones who did the visiting, so yeah, flying with Shiro and Adam to a small village in one of the farthest island of Japan was definitively an adventure.

He had honestly lost count of how many vessels they entered so far, there were big planes, small planes, buses and boats; all to get to the small village of Pāru, population 430. No wonder Shiro wasn’t able to visit his parents that often!

The village itself was modest: the houses were not too big but seemed comfortable; the market was full of fresh vegetables and even fresher fish, beside numerous spices that filled Keith’s nose, handmade toys and kitchen supplies that still smelled like fresh wood and handmade jewelry using beach shells and colorful little gems. The streets were made out of dirt and there was green everywhere.

Keith loved it.

Some people recognized Shiro on the way and were quick to greet him. Their voices were low and a little shy, not really used to talking to strangers (Keith noticed when they greeted him and Adam).

Keith’s japanese was a little rusty since he only practiced once a year, but he could recognize some of the words. Apparently, for those people, Shiro was unrecognizable, but still handsome and strong; Adam was way more pretty than they thought and Keith was a little older than they expected.

Shiro seemed a little embarrassed for all the attention and Adam and Keith took a second to laugh at him, which only made him blush more. But once the greetings were concluded the group was free to continue the path to Shiro’s parent’s house.

It was just like the other houses, not too big with a clean front, a well-kept garden with some growing vegetables and an open balcony were Shiro’s dad was, apparently, fixing a fishing net.

“ _I’m home_ ,” Shiro said when the entered the garden, which made his dad look up.

“ _Takashi!_ ” he jumped up, dropping everything he was doing, and ran to his son with the biggest smile Keith had ever seen on a person. “ _Kaoru! Takashi is home!_ ”

Kaoru, Shiro’s mother, came running through the door and Shiro was almost tackled by his parents.

Now, here’s a thing about Shiro’s parent: they were tiny and stupidly adorable. So Keith and Adam couldn’t help but smile when Shiro got surrounded by the tiny couple, who was practically glowing with happiness. They waited a moment so Kaoru could nag at Shiro about him “going to skinny” and how he was “not eating right”, and kept laughing as Shiro blushed harder and harder.

That is until Shiro got away from his parents grasp and moved closer to Adam and Keith.

“ _Mom, dad, you remember Keith, right?_ ”

They both smiled and gave Keith a little bow before stepping closer for a hug.

“You got taller,” Shiro’s dad, Akashi, said patting Keith’s back. He could be tiny and adorable, but Keith could fell the strength in his hands.

“And thinner,” Kaoru finished with a very strong accent. “ _Not good for a growing boy._ ”

It was Keith’s turn to blush, but this time Adam did not laugh. Because at that moment Kaoru and Akashi’s eyes landed right on him, they glowed with curiosity and expectation and got more excited just as Shiro put his arm around Adam’ shoulders.

“ _And this is Adam_ ,” he said with a shy smile. “ _The guy I was telling you about._ ”

“ _It’s very nice to finally meet you both_ ,” Adam said with a bow.

If they though Kaoru made a fuss over Shiro and Keith, Adam was doomed, because right now it was his turn to be surrounded by the tiny couple and Kaoru did not wasted any time to pull him to a hug. She inspected his face and how thin his arms were (did they not eat in America?!). She also touched his hair and looked right into his eyes, as if she could see into his very soul.

If she actually could or not, they didn’t know, but at the end she hugged Adam again and said:

“ _What a precious boy,_ ” Keith gave a light chuckle while Adam blushed. “ _He’s going to make you very happy, my son._ ”

“ _He already does._ ” Shiro’s voice was so full of love that the only thing left to Kaoru to do was to hug her son one more time.

Akashi did not fuss over Adam as much as his wife, but he did scan him with a thorough eye, trying to see any sign of trouble. When he didn’t find any, he shook Adam’s hand and finally invited them all in.

The house was modestly decorated and yet everything felt so cozy. There was an amazing smell coming from the kitchen and a light ocean breeze coming from the window.

“ _You all must be tired,_ ” Kaoru said going to the stairs. “ _How about a nap before dinner?_ ”

“ _Please,_ ” the three of them said at the same time making Kaoru laugh.

Adam and Shiro were put in Shiro’s old room. As for Keith… Shiro’ older sister, Tsunade, was in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (somewhere between Australia and Tasmania) studying the new levels of pollution, so it was fair to say that she would not mind Keith sleeping in it.

At first, Keith couldn’t bring himself to sleep, maybe for the fact it took so long for them to arrive that he didn’t want to miss a thing. But then he caught himself observing the little star fishes on top of the dresser, the simple landscape painted on the wall; he could not only smell the ocean coming through the window, he could also hear it. And soon he was completely relaxed and drifting into sleep.

***

Kaoru’s cooking was one of the things Shiro missed the most and now Keith and Adam knew why: because it was absolutely fantastic. Now Keith defiantly didn’t want to leave.

“ _You didn’t go fishing today, Dad?_ ” Shiro asked while Keith went for thirds.

“ _Not today_ ”, Akashi replied. “ _They were singing too much. But tomorrow I’ll go._ ”

Keith must have heard wrong. Who was singing? And what did that have to do with fishing? He looked at Adam, but the guy also seemed very confused.

“ _Can we go with you?_ ” Shiro asked, completely missing his companions’ confusion. “ _I promised Keith we would go dive after pearls._ ”

“ _That would make me very happy,_ ” he replied with a sincere smile.

“Did you hear, Keith?” Shiro asked snapping Keith and Adam from their confusion and, of course, he noticed. “What’s wrong?”

“Did we hear it right?” Adam asked a little insecure. “Someone was singing?”

“Oh,” Shiro laughed before continuing: “I forgot to tell you. There’s a water temple on the other side of the island. It’s abandoned for years, but some people still believe that it still houses water spirits and when the weather is bad they say it’s because they are singing,” he gave them a creepy smile and finished with: “trying to lure unaware fisherman and swimmers to the bottom of the sea.”

“Ha. Ha,” Adam replied while Shiro laughed again.

Kaoru asked what they were talking about and when Shiro answered she turned very serious.

“ _It’s very dangerous on the other side of the island,_ ” she said with her ‘mom voice’. “ _It’s full of wild animals, the beach is infested with sea urchin and there are very pointy rocks on the water._ ”

“ _And hungry spirits,_ ” Akashi completed.

“ _And hungry spirits,_ ” Kaoru agreed. “ _Promise me you won’t go._ ”

Keith and Adam promised and they continued eating.

That night, hearing the soft waves of the ocean, Keith dreamt of mermaids.

***

The next day, when Akashi left to go fishing, he didn’t take Keith and Shiro with him.

The poor boys were exhausted and slept the entire morning, completely ignoring Akashi’s attempts of waking them up. Not a problem, they were staying for a whole week, there would be others opportunities.

But when Keith finally woke up there wasn’t much he could do. Kaoru and Adam were attending the garden, Shiro was finishing his father’s new fishing net and Akashi was away fishing. The house was clean, the town was peaceful and everything was nice and quiet.

Keith didn’t want to admit it so early in their trip, but he was getting bored. And that was never a good sign.

“Where are you going?” Shiro asked when Keith passed the gate.

“I’m going for a walk,” he answered. “To explore and shit.”

“Language!” Adam yelled from the garden.

“Just be careful,” Shiro said getting his attention back on the net. “Remember what mom said, okay?”

“Okay.”

And with that he left.

The market was definitely one of Keith’s favorite places so far, it was full of color and different smells, full of things Keith wasn’t used to seeing in America. There were aquariums filled with live fish, octopuses and sea urchin, flesh fruit that bursted into Keith’s mouth and vegetables he never heard from before.

And everyone was so nice! No wonder this was Shiro’s home.

Keith made plans to explore the entire village that day, but he was interrupted by the cries of a little girl. She was very small and could not be older than six years old.

“ _Hello,_ ” Keith said getting closer to her. His accent did not go very well with Japanese, but it was not impossible to understand. “ _Why are you crying?_ ”

“ _Pushi ran away,_ ” she said rubbing her eyes.  “ _I can’t find him anywhere…_ ”

“ _Pushi?_ ”

“ _Her cat,_ ” an older woman replied. “ _He ran away last week and Hana is still sad about it._ ”

“ _He’s all alone!_ ” the little girl, Hana, cried harder.

“ _What does he look like?_ ” Keith asked in a desperate attempt to make her stop crying.

“ _He’s white,_ ” she began rubbing her eyes again. “ _With a black ear and a cut tail._ ”

“ _Got it_ ,” he replied with a thumb up. “ _If I see him I’ll bring him right back to you, Hana-chan._ ”

She was not crying anymore.

“ _Promise?_ ”

“ _I promise._ ”

Hana thanked him with a smile and the older woman sent her of to play, she did not look as happy.

“ _That was very kind, but you really don’t have to do that,_ ” she said crossing her arms.

“ _Why not?_ ”

“ _All the missing pets end up on the other side of the island,_ ” she explained pointing to the left. “ _It’s very dangerous over there._ ”

“ _I’ve been told…_ ” Keith replied not too happy as well. “ _Guess I’ll just keep my eyes open then._ ”

“ _Thank you,_ ” she said with a final bow and left.

Keith continued his walk on the village, stopping to look better at new things and to just enjoy that new place. It was almost lunch time when he saw Puchi.

He was way bigger than he though and looked very old, his eyes had a vivid yellow than seemed way more intelligent than a cat should be and over all, he just seemed very mean. But a promise was a promise and Keith had to at least try.

So to try to catch him he went.

It was not easy, since cats were already really intelligent creatures. But that cat in particular seemed a freaking genius! Every time Keith tried to get him in a corner he would get away or between his legs, or jumping on top of his head, or even escaping from his fingertips. It was like that damn thing was mocking him! And if Puchi was anything like his cat, Reddington, it probably was.

Keith followed that old cat probably through the entire village (thank the stars it was a tiny village!) and got so distracted by the chase that he didn’t even noticed when he entered the forest.

But honestly? For Keith it didn’t really matter at that point. Because it was thanks to palm tree that he finally got Puchi trapped and restrained (and by restrained I mean on his arms with a very grumpy face).

Keith didn’t know how long it took him to get this little devil, but he could see the change in the sky, so he should probably hurry and go back. Lucky he could see the village with no problem, so he wasn’t lost. But the moment he started to walk away something felt…weird. Almost like he was being watched.

He stopped walking and looked around, but there was nothing.

“Did you feel that?” He asked the cat, since Puchi was (currently) his only company.

He only got a lazy meow in response.

Keith shrugged at that and kept walking, not noticing the pair of almost neon blue eyes that were definitely following him.

***

The morning arrived and with it the promise of diving for pearls. Finally!

Akashi’s boat was small and humble, made for the sole purpose of fishing and nothing else. But the only thing that mattered was that it had room for everyone.

Since Shiro had grown up on that island, more specifically on that boat, being there again feeling the waves and the salty air on his face was, on the very least, incredibly nostalgic. He couldn’t stop smiling! He was helping his father and it amazed him how much his body remembered and he hadn’t entered a boat in years!

Adam was also having the time of his live. He wasn’t like Shiro: growing up in a small village in a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. But he did grow up near the sea, and was used the smell of salt and the crash of the waves, the motion of the waters and the unpredictability of the all. And he just loved it! He felt at home near the water, near the sea.

But with Keith it was a different story. Being raised in a desert made him used to the heat, to being alone, it gave him time and a bunch of space to practice on his bike. But on open waters like that… even though he was excited for the new experience, he did not feel that good in the middle of that much water.

Shiro and his dad jumped in first and Adam and Keith waited, the younger man was playing with the mask in his hand, ignoring the water on his legs.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked when he noticed how quiet Keith was.

“Just a little nervous, I think.”

“It gets better when you dive,” he said with a smile.

Keith didn’t seem to believe that, but he still put on the mask. After all is not like he was going to give up because he was scare of some water!

Shiro and Akashi came back with a bag full of oysters. It was Adam and Keith’s turn.

“Ready Keef?” Adam asks adjusting his mask.

“You know it.”

And they jumped.

Adam was right: it’s so much better when they dove. Under the sea was nothing like over the sea. Over you could only see the high waves, and angry winds and how big and scary everything was. Now under there was color, and life, and (who knew?) fun! Adam gestured for Keith to follow and they both started to pick up oysters. In the middle of it Keith also got to play with a sea turtle and a few fishes.

It was truly beautiful!

But it all changed when they came back up, because what it was once a peaceful sky it was now the beginning of a storm. And it looked like it was going to be a big one.

“ _We need to go back!_ ” Akashi yelled pulling Adam out of the water. “ _They began singing again!_ ”

“Come on, Keith!” Shiro said stretching his arm.

When Keith was about to get Shiro’s hand, he felt a pull on his leg and everything went dark.

***

Again, under the sea was beautiful. It was colorful, and full of motion and life. But Keith was not expecting to see a pair of very humanoid eyes staring right back at him. They were very blue, almost glowing, and belonged to a very pretty face (if he could say so himself). The boy in front of him wasn’t japanese, he knew that much from the dark skin and the huge eyes. That plus the blues tail and scales made Keith safely bet the “boy” in front of him wasn’t even human.

So why wasn’t Keith panicking?

He was probably into shock or something like that… he was drowning after all. Maybe that was a final trick from his mind! It was his dream to find a cryptid after all, and a merman was close enough!

The merman in question seemed to be observing Keith and smiled, he touched Keith’s face and his touch was light and gentle, almost caring. Since Keith was not wearing his mask the merman fingers had easy access to his lips and they stayed there for a while. They would probably never move again if Keith didn’t start fighting for air. The neon blue eyes grew with concern and Keith’s lungs burned.

Keith’s vision started to blur again when the merman grabbed his face and kissed him.

The air invaded Keith’s lungs and it took him a minute to calm down, to get used to the fact that he wasn’t drowning anymore. Then, and only then, Keith registered the fact that he was being kissed.

The merman lips were soft and his hands were playing with Keith’s hair, like he was used to kissing Keith all the time. And for some reason it did feel like that. It felt right, like they belonged there.

His tail enveloped Keith’s legs, and (not really thinking things through) is was Keith’s turn to pull him closer.

Now, if it was real or not, Keith really didn’t care at that point. And when they pulled apart the merman only smiled and everything went black again.

***

When Keith woke up he was lying out on the shore. Shiro, Adam and Akashi were running on his direction and looked like were about to have a heart attack.

“KEITH!” they all screamed.

“My stars! Are you okay?!” Adam asked checking him for any injuries. “We thought you were dead!”

“You vanished in the water!” Shiro said in the middle of too many hand gestures. “I dove back for you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere!”

“ _We were so scared!_ ” Akashi’s japanese was already fast, but on top of Shiro’s speech and Adam’s hovering, it was impossible to understand. “ _You vanished in the water in a blink of an eye and we couldn’t find you anywhere! It was the worst feeling of my life!_ ”

Keith was honestly embarrassed from all that fussing over him, but he did understand where they were coming from. So all he could say was:

“I’m sorry.”

***

Someone once said to Keith that “coming back is always faster than going away” and for once it was true. He guessed that it was due to the fact that they were all exhausted not only from that amazing week they spent with Akashi and Kaoru but from the trip itself. Again, there were big planes, small planes, buses and boats (big and small). Not to mention the experience of almost dying and being fussed over for the rest of the week like a child was very tiring to say the least.

Keith couldn’t wait to get home and to just sleep.

All they had to do now was to get a cab and go home! So Keith did his best to ignore the experience of the airport and the sea of people and all the noises, he just wanted to go home! But of course a stranger had to cash into Keith, sending him and his bags all over the floor.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” the stranger said offering his hand.

Keith was so tired and done with airports that he was about to tell the stranger off, but then he looked at the owner of that helping hand and his heart skipped a beat. He recognized that dark skin and brown hair and pretty smile and huge blue eyes!

“You are my merman!” Keith said getting up, not really caring about his bags (that’s what Adam and Shiro were for).

“Excuse me?”

“You save my life!” It was probably sleep deprivation, but now Keith was not giving up! “I was drowning and you kissed me and saved my life!”

That made the stranger laugh a little, which only made Keith realize what he was saying.

“I think I would remember kissing someone like you,” the stranger said, “I’m Lance.”

“Keith.”

They shook hands and Lance gave him another smile.

“You’re coming or going?”

“I just arrived…”

“Cool, me too!” He grabbed Keith’ hand and wrote something on it with a pen he grabbed from his bag. “Why don’t you give a call when you feel like getting a real kiss?”

Lance then winked and Keith felt his face burn. But Keith being Keith, he couldn’t leave it alone. So while Lance walked away, he had so shout:

“How can you not remember? We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!”

Lance laughed again and turned at Keith one last time to reply:

“Nope! Don’t remember. Didn’t happen.”

And he walked away with a final wink, Keith wasn’t sure but he could’ve swear he saw a flash of blue neon on Lance’s eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> We all know he remembers!


End file.
